What happens to your body if you eat a handful of blueberries every day?

Blueberries hide secrets to maintain the health of your body in their small, bluish bodies due to various benefits and nutrients. We tell you what are the advantages of taking a small handful a day of these fruits.

These small berries are blueberries, sweet and acidic, used since time immemorial as powerful medicinal fruits, and great allies to complement your diet. A handful or a cup of them gives you 80 calories and essential nutrients like vitamin C, vitamin K, dietary fiber, and phytonutrients called polyphenols, including anthocyanins, the compounds that give blueberries their beautiful blue color.

Blueberries can give you a cable with several things: protect your cardiovascular health, prevent urinary tract infections, help glycemic control and are also great for your brain. Let's take a closer look at what the studies say about them.

When it comes to cardiovascular health, recent research published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that people with metabolic syndrome (a group of symptoms that include obesity, high fasting glucose, and lowered HDL cholesterol) who consumed the equivalent of a cup of fresh blueberries a day showed positive changes for your heart health, such as increased HDL cholesterol levels.

On the other hand, blueberries also have the ability to modulate the response to insulin: resistance to this hormone that regulates glucose can lead to type 2 diabetes or adult diabetes, the most common form of this disease. Although many people have the mistaken belief to limit fruit over other types of sugar, some like blueberries can contribute to glycemic control, something that studies like this one published in Current Developments in Nutrition reveal.

Thus, if you take a cup of fresh blueberries a day you can positively influence this aspect: the study subjects experienced significantly lower serum triglyceride levels compared to placebo. If left untreated or unchecked, elevated blood triglyceride levels can increase the risk of serious complications, such as cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of morbidity and mortality for people with diabetes.

In another study, people were told to drink smoothies with or without blueberries twice a day for six weeks. The researchers found that those who consumed the smoothie containing these fruits were more capeYou stop lowering your blood glucose in response to insulin than those who don't.

On the other hand, blueberries are great for your brain health, memory or cognitive functioning, due to their high levels of antioxidants. This study evaluated the effects of blueberry intake on human brain function by having participants follow a diet supplemented with blueberries daily for 90 days. Results yielded fewer errors on tests used to assess verbal memory and change of tasks compared to those who took a placebo.

In another study, researchers found that older adults with cognitive impairment had increased brain activity in certain parts of the brain while they were taking a diet supplemented with these fruits.

And finally, we must not forget that blueberries are great allies in the fight against cystitis: this is confirmed by studies such as the one carried out at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute in 2010, which revealed the ability of the components of blueberry juice to fight the bacterium Escherichia coli, which adheres to the walls of the urinary tract and forms thin bi-layers. However, according to the study, the bilberry prevents it from sticking to the cells of the tract, contributing to the expulsion of the bacteria through the urine and avoiding risks of infection.

A Spanish investigation also contributed its grain of sand in 2013. Conducted jointly by the Quirón and General University Hospitals of Valencia, it showed that a cranberry-based food preparation prevents cystitis due to its proanthocyanidin (PAC) content, a group of polyphenol compounds that makes it difficult for bacteria to adhere to the intestinal walls.

Source
ICTbeat

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